Sunday, November 18, 2001
AFC Central view askew
Traditional powers shaky, once-weak teams stronger
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
In its final season, the AFC Central is undergoing a change in its balance of power.
Today, as its six teams play intradivisional games, traditional powers Tennessee and Jacksonville are trying to hang on for another playoff run before moving to the new AFC South next season.
Defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore still looks to be the class of the Central, but Pittsburgh is in first place thanks to a time-tested Steel City formula — defense and the running game.
Upstarts Cleveland and Cincinnati are tied for third place and have improved under maturing young quarterback Tim Couch and Seattle outcast Jon Kitna.
Besides Tennessee at the Bengals, the other division games are the Browns at Baltimore and the Jaguars at Pittsburgh.
Here's a midseason look at the division:
PLAYOFF TEAMS:
The 6-3 Ravens and 6-2 Steelers appear to be solid favorites as either the division winner or wild card. And either one could become the third consecutive AFC champion from the Central.
The AFC Central's .531 winning percentage is second in the league behind the NFC West's (.537), and the Central could put three teams in the AFC playoffs as easily as the East or West could.
WILD CARDS:
While Miami and Oakland are the favorites to win the AFC East and West, respectively, the Jets are 6-3 and playoff-tested Denver is 5-4.
Losses today by the Titans and Jaguars would all but knock them out of contention, and victories by the Browns and Bengals would keep them in the race.
BENGALS' CHANCES:
Six of the Bengals' eight remaining games are against Central teams — at Cleveland, Baltimore and Tennessee, and home against Tennessee, Jacksonville and Pittsburgh.
The Bengals are 2-2 against division opponents, but in terms of playoff possibilities, they are looking up at eight AFC teams with better records and three 4-4 teams. But they are still in the hunt and control their destiny.
BROWNS:
They're averaging 72 plays on defense and 58 on offense. The defense is wearing down, even though it held Pittsburgh out of the end zone in a 15-12 overtime loss last week. In the last four games, the Browns' defense has surrendered yardage totals of 400, 321, 413 and 428.
JAGUARS:
Their 3-5 record is one game better than at the season's midpoint a year ago, but nowhere near what Jacksonville is used to.
In their first five seasons, when they were 53-34 and went to two AFC title games, the Jaguars scored 11 special-teams touchdowns. They have none in the past season and a half.
RAVENS:
Five of their seven remaining games are at home and only one is against a team with a winning record — Pittsburgh. In their three-game win streak, the Ravens have outscored opponents 24-7 in the fourth quarter.
Kickers also are 9-for-19 against the Ravens, including Neil Rackers' 0-for-3 and Kris Brown's 1-for-5 games.
STEELERS:
The Steelers defense ranks first in the NFL in yards allowed (227.3 a game average), passing yards (149.9), points allowed (11.25) and sacks (34) and is second in rushing yards (77.4).
TITANS:
They have the franchise's worst record (3-5) at the midway point of a season since 1995, when a 3-5 start led to a 7-9 record for the Houston Oilers. That's in stark contrast to their combined 13-3 midpoint record the past two seasons.
DEFENSE:
Pittsburgh is No.1 in the NFL in overall defense, Baltimore is third. Against the run, the Ravens are No.1, the Steelers No.2 and Titans No.7.
RUNNING WILD:
Compared to a year ago, when five AFC Central running backs (Eddie George, Corey Dillon, Fred Taylor, Jamal Lewis and Jerome Bettis) finished in the top 10 in rushing in the NFL, the division's ground games have fallen on relatively hard times. The division has only two of the top 10 runners — Bettis is second with 866 yards and Dillon eighth with 683.
LOOKING UP:
The steady improvement of the Bengals and Browns gives hope for a better AFC North division, which begins in 2002. They will join the Steelers and Ravens in the eight-division alignment.
Going into today's games, the AFC North's four teams are a combined 20-13.
It appeared the expansion Houston Texans would be the fourth member of the North to reflect the longtime format of the original AFC Central — Houston (Oilers), Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Instead, the Texans were placed in the AFC South with Jacksonville, Tennessee and Indianapolis.
Battaglia appendectomy
The Bengals on Saturday signed tight end Kirk McMullen from their practice squad to replace tight end Marco Battaglia on the 53-man roster.
Battaglia was scheduled for an appendectomy Saturday at Christ Hospital.
Battaglia has played in the season's first eight games, with one start, and had 13 catches for 118 yards. Today's game will be the first he has missed in six seasons, ending the team's longest current games-played streak at 88.
McMullen is a first-year player from Pittsburgh who has been with the Bengals since Dec.26. He played in all four preseason games and had a 19-yard reception. He was waived Sept. 2 and has been on the practice squad since Sept.3.
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AFC Central view askew